Describe Regarding Books The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
| Title | : | The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris |
| Author | : | David McCullough |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 558 pages |
| Published | : | May 24th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Cultural. France. Biography. North American Hi.... American History. Travel |
David McCullough
Hardcover | Pages: 558 pages Rating: 3.91 | 17507 Users | 2133 Reviews
Relation During Books The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring - and until now, untold - story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.After risking the hazardous journey across the Atlantic, these Americans embarked on a greater journey in the City of Light. Most had never left home, never experienced a different culture. None had any guarantee of success. That they achieved so much for themselves and their country profoundly altered American history. As David McCullough writes, "Not all pioneers went west." Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America, was one of this intrepid band. Another was Charles Sumner, who enrolled at the Sorbonne because of a burning desire to know more about everything. There he saw black students with the same ambition he had, and when he returned home, he would become the most powerful, unyielding voice for abolition in the U.S. Senate, almost at the cost of his life.
Two staunch friends, James Fenimore Cooper and Samuel F. B. Morse, worked unrelentingly every day in Paris, Cooper writing and Morse painting what would be his masterpiece. From something he saw in France, Morse would also bring home his momentous idea for the telegraph.
Pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk from New Orleans launched his spectacular career performing in Paris at age 15. George P. A. Healy, who had almost no money and little education, took the gamble of a lifetime and with no prospects whatsoever in Paris became one of the most celebrated portrait painters of the day. His subjects included Abraham Lincoln.
Medical student Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote home of his toil and the exhilaration in "being at the center of things" in what was then the medical capital of the world. From all they learned in Paris, Holmes and his fellow "medicals" were to exert lasting influence on the profession of medicine in the United States.
Writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, and Henry James were all "discovering" Paris, marveling at the treasures in the Louvre, or out with the Sunday throngs strolling the city's boulevards and gardens. "At last I have come into a dreamland," wrote Harriet Beecher Stowe, seeking escape from the notoriety Uncle Tom's Cabin had brought her. Almost forgotten today, the heroic American ambassador Elihu Washburne bravely remained at his post through the Franco-Prussian War, the long Siege of Paris and even more atrocious nightmare of the Commune. His vivid account in his diary of the starvation and suffering endured by the people of Paris (drawn on here for the first time) is one readers will never forget. The genius of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the son of an immigrant shoemaker, and of painters Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent, three of the greatest American artists ever, would flourish in Paris, inspired by the examples of brilliant French masters, and by Paris itself.
Nearly all of these Americans, whatever their troubles learning French, their spells of homesickness, and their suffering in the raw cold winters by the Seine, spent many of the happiest days and nights of their lives in Paris. McCullough tells this sweeping, fascinating story with power and intimacy, bringing us into the lives of remarkable men and women who, in Saint-Gaudens's phrase, longed "to soar into the blue." The Greater Journey is itself a masterpiece.
Itemize Books As The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
| Original Title: | The Greater Journey: Americans In Paris |
| ISBN: | 1416571760 (ISBN13: 9781416571766) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | France |
| Literary Awards: | Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Nonfiction (2012), Marfield Prize (National Award for Arts Writing) Nominee (2011), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for History & Biography (2011) |
Rating Regarding Books The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
Ratings: 3.91 From 17507 Users | 2133 ReviewsCommentary Regarding Books The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
While the book made enjoyable reading and I learned a lot, the theme of Americans in Paris over decades wasn't strong enough to hold the book together very tightly. Our discussion group agreed that the section on the medical students is the strongest, since it covers several people who formed a cohesive community and paints a vivid picture of the state of medical science before antibiotics and anesthesia. The section about the diplomat Elihu Washburne also holds together well since it coalescesI really did feel like I was in Paris back then and the atmosphere was wonderful but the novel itself... I wish he would've gone more in dept on the people themselves... We get a little info about them then its on to the next section then sometimes they appear in a section about someone else. It felt a little dry and confusing after awhile.I don't mind lookin up different things from a book time to time, but not every other person in the book.For me this was a dud, David McCullough is a
This was the first book I read after returning from a trip to France, and it was a perfect choice. Not only did I enjoy revisiting various Parisian sites in my minds eye, I was also fascinated to see the city through the eyes of other Americans. Nineteenth century Americans at that. Told in McCulloughs engaging style, this book explores the voyages of various influential Americans to Paris between the 1830s and 1900. I was struck by the unique and changing relationship between the two countries
The Greater Journey is a book that in less capable hands than David McCulloughs would have been deadly dull. However, in his hands it is a wonderful narrative history that manages to be about many things, and all at the same time.This text is about the American artists, diplomats, writers, doctors, etc. who populated Paris France during the 19th century. Beginning with the early 1800s and concluding essentially at the dawn of the 1900s McCullough gives us a readable and very fascinating history
This is the story of Americans who traveled to Paris during the seven final decades of the 19th century. It's a history of the young years of individuals who ended up being famous and important Americans in their later mature years. Generally speaking, many of them were single, affluent individuals (mostly men) in their 20's intent on learning the artistic, scientific, and medical skills of the French who were perceived to be leaders in these fields.I too spent some time traveling in Europe when
I have to sit down with books about France/Paris (and history) in a certain frame of mind. Everyone wants to recommend these to me - and I do like reading them, just not a steady diet. McCullough is favorite writer. He tells a story - and then you realize you've learned something about a subject. In this case, the win was an overlay of American history that put this part of French history into context. The biggest surprise was the history of the Paris Commune. Victor Hugo gives a dramatized
This was an interesting account of various Americans who traveled to Paris during the mid to latter parts of the 19th century as it was the world's cultural and educational center. They came in large numbers to study art, literature, education, medicine, politics, etc. the notable Americans included such names as James Fenimore Cooper, Samuel FB Morse, Elizabeth Blackwell, Charles Sumner, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Cassett, and John Singer Sargent among others. It is an
0 Comments:
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.